"Lost Pearls - Exhibition of Rare Calligraphy and Paintings from the Osaka Municipal Museum of Art" was held at the National Palace Museum in Taipei. The exhibition lineup is very strong, Zhang Shengxuan, Wu Daozi, Wang Wei, Li Cheng, Yan Wengui, Song Huizong Zhao Yao... Every artist is a well-known figure in the history of Chinese art.
One of the main reasons why the Osaka Municipal Museum of Art is famous all over the world is that it has a collection of Abe Fumijiro's old collections. Abe Fumijiro collected a total of 160 works of ancient Chinese painting and calligraphy during his lifetime, and after his death, his son donated all of these collections to the Osaka Municipal Museum of Art according to his wishes.
The last time the "Abe Collection" was exhibited on such a large scale was in 2018, when the Osaka Municipal Museum of Art held a special exhibition "Abe Futajiro and Chinese Calligraphy and Painting" to commemorate the 150th anniversary of Abe's birth.
This exhibition is the first large-scale borrowing exhibition of calligraphy and painting in the National Palace Museum in Taipei, and the exhibits are all from the old collection of Abe Fangjiro, including the "Five Stars and Twenty-Eight Divine Figures" of Liang Monks of the Southern Dynasty, Tang Wangwei's "Fusheng Sutra Map", Song Licheng and Wang Xiao's "Reading Stele Stone Map", Song YanWengui's "View of Jiangshan Lou", Su Shi's "Xingshu Li Baixian Poem", Gong Kai's "Jun bone map", Mi Youren's "Yuanxiu Qingyun Map", Zheng Sixiao's "Mo Lan Tu", Yi Yuanji's "Ju Ape Map" and other heavy-weight masterpieces, and Song Guoxi's "Guanbei Map" from the National Palace Museum in Taipei. Guo Zhongshu's "Xueji River Travel Map", Yan Wengui's "Xishan Louguan", Mi Fu's "Book Treatise", Song Huizong Zhao Tuo's "Autumn Color Map of Xishan Mountain", Tang Luhong's "Ten Zhitu of Caotang" and other fine works are also exhibited.
Yi Yuanji's "Poly Ape Diagram"
Guo Zhongshu "Xueji River Map"
Zhao Tuo's "Autumn Color Map of Xishan Mountain"
Three of the most impressive paintings in Abe's old collection were acquired through fierce competition with art museums and private collectors in Europe and the United States. They are Zhang Shengxuan's "Five Stars and Twenty-Eight Divine Figures", Wang Wei's "Fusheng Sutra Diagram" and Yan Wengui's "Jiangshan Lou Guantu".
The original works of Zhang Shengxuan have long been impossible to explore. And this "Five Stars and Twenty-Eight Divine Figures" is the only one that can be glimpsed in its technique. Although scholars generally believe that this work was copied by the Tang Dynasty painter Liang Lingzhan, it can still reflect the characteristics of the original work, and is the only physical material for the study of Zhang Shengxuan's paintings. The inscription on the front across the water is painted by Liang Lingzhan, while Dong Qichang and Chen Jiru of the Ming Dynasty mention in the inscriptions respectively that the painters should be Wu Daozi or Yan Liben of the Tang Dynasty. The work is characterized by its soothing depiction of thin lines and elegant color. Although it can be inferred from the details such as the confusion of the seal script on the painting that it should be written by later generations, there are still different opinions and inconclusive opinions about the specific age of the creation of this painting.
Wang Wei's "Fusheng Teaching Sutra Diagram"
The Fusheng Sutra Is derived from a true historical story depicting the Qin Dynasty doctor Fu Sheng (Fu Sheng) hiding the Book of Shang in the wall when Qin Shi Huang burned the book pit Confucianism, and did not take it out until the rise of the Han Dynasty. Later Emperor Wen of Han wanted to invite Fusheng to the palace to give a lecture, but he was already more than 90 years old at the time, so he taught the Book of Shang to his disciples Chao mistakenly accepted it. The Fusheng Sutra diagram on display depicts the image of this noble scholar. Because the thin line drawing in the painting inherits the painting method of the Tang Dynasty, it is said that this painting was made by Wang Wei of the Tang Dynasty. On the painting are the inner collection seals of Emperor Huizong of song and Emperor Gaozong of Song, and there are Gaozong inscriptions "Wang Wei Writes Jinan Fusheng" and the Southern Song Dynasty Wu Said Guanhua inscription.
Yan Wengui's "View of Jiangshan Lou" depicts a vast landscape that unfolds horizontally and horizontally, from the river that can be overlooked from the beginning of the volume, all the way to the mountain at the end of the scroll, which truly shows the scene of clouds, trees and water flow gradually becoming fierce in the wind and rain, and many places in the painting also paint scenes of people's lives. The work adopts a flat-distance composition, with rubble scattered in the near distance and vast rivers in the distance. The mountains are stacked and the penmanship is meticulous, which is quite characteristic of "Yanjia scenery".
The Xingshu Li Baixian Poems transcribes two ancient poems by Li Bai, and the verses read "On July 10, the eighth year of the Yuan Dynasty, Dan Yuan retransmitted these two poems". Although the work is not signed, it should be judged by the style of writing to be written by Su Shi, who was 58 years old. This work is a middle-aged work by Su Shixue Yan Zhenqing and Yang Ningshi and others whose calligraphy style is also a family of their own, written with a unique right shoulder oblique gesture, rich in pen changes, is not limited to trivial techniques, full of jumping sense of calligraphy.
The Picture of the Heavenly King of Sending Sons is a painting by the Tang Dynasty painter Wu Daozi based on the Buddhist scripture Ruiying BenqiJing. This is li gonglin's pro-book. The whole map is divided into three parts, and the people, ghosts, gods, and beasts in the painting are completely Sinicized and Taoized, which is caused by the increasing integration of Buddhism and china from the changes in mainland China to the Tang Dynasty.
Zheng Sixiao's "Mo Lan Tu"
The Southern Song Dynasty Zheng Sixiao's "Mo Lan Tu", written in thick ink, has a strong penmanship and shows an indomitable and tenacious spirit. The three confucian and Taoist ideas contained in "Mo Lan Tu" and the literati spirit conveyed by them are not only a true portrayal of the author himself, but also embody the common aspirations of traditional literati and doctors. This painting should be collected in the Qing Palace, which was passed down from Qianlong to Xuantong and later flowed into the folk.